| The Casket Store

The Casket Store

The relatively new retail casket store and online ordering of caskets is changing the way people purchase funeral related items. All that’s required is a little research and comparison shopping. Cost savings, alone, are more than enough reason to explore these options, but the emotional benefits are also significant.

Is there anyone who doesn’t have a horror story or know of one involving a relative or friend about that awful visit to the casket display room immediately following an unexpected death? There you are, emotions on overload or possibly in shock, being led through a gallery of caskets and asked to make a choice supposedly based on the depth of your feelings for the one that has just passed.

Funeral industry professionals earn their living by selling caskets and other related products and services. To expect them not to up-sell when possible is to be naïve. Caskets  are high-ticket items and are usually the most expensive part of the traditional funeral. Depending on the material and design they can range from $2,000 to well over $10,000.

Most reputable funeral homes offer a variety of burial plans that can be purchased and even paid over time. Many of these plans include everything from the casket to the cemetery plot and even flowers. This not only shifts the decision making and responsibility away from the family members, it lets the individual make the arrangements that they want. Comparing costs and even purchasing the more costly items like caskets and burial plots ahead of time is becoming more popular all the time.

While advance planning is by far the best option, there are other avenues to explore that can save a lot of money and avoid the experience of the hushed visit to the casket display room. There are discount casket stores that actually have certain models on display. Another route is to order a casket online. Even after paying the expedited shipping to have it delivered to the funeral parlor of your choice the very next day, the savings can still be considerable.

The funeral industry is regulated by the Fair Trade Commission and consumers should be aware that funeral providers can not refuse to use a casket that has been purchased somewhere else, nor may they charge an additional fee. Funeral and burial costs fall third on the list of most expensive purchases, right after home and vehicle. Most people wouldn’t even consider buying a house or a new car without planning and doing a lot of research. The same thought and consideration should be used when making a casket selection or any other funeral expense.

Buying Caskets Online

Besides caskets, people can buy everything that is funeral related online, getting the costs down and making sure the family doesn’t suffer financially as well. The casket stores available online these days don’t offer you just that. You will also find cremation urns, candles, bracelets, jewelry and many other items that are used during funerals and cremations.

In the past, the only option available to people was getting a casket from a funeral home, but these days it can even be ordered online, especially if it’s a store from your area, which can deliver it to your house for free. One of the best ways to get great deals on caskets is to look for them online and look for coupons or special offers. Just because they are sold online doesn’t mean the quality isn’t there, so as long as you pay attention to what’s being offered, you should be OK.

The majority of the casket buyers choose funeral homes because it’s the normal way things are done, but that’s not a reason anymore, not when you have alternatives that aren’t as costly. Since the funeral home doesn’t make the casket themselves, they buy it from others and they add their own profit margin to it, making it more expensive than it should be. You can get your own casket online or you can go to a professional to have it custom made, and chances are that you will spend less money on it than if you chose just from what the funeral home gave you.

Online stores generally have more options as well. Plus, they are able to keep their costs down by not keeping a permanent store in a good location. Instead, they just send the caskets from a warehouse, so the costs are passed on to the consumer.